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On a Saturday usually filled with difficult news for players when rosters get trimmed down to the NFL maximum of 53 players, one man in a Browns uniform received very good news.

Tight end Evan Moore was given a contract extension with the team that will keep him in Cleveland.

“It’s truly a blessing to be talking about this today,” Moore said to reporters. I’m very excited about it and happy for my family that they get to experience it as well.

“To me, it says, ‘We want you to be a part of what we’re doing here,’” he continued. “As far as the magnitude of what that really means, we’ll find out as the season goes along. I choose to look at it like they’re going to use me and I’m going to try to be as consistent as possible for them and make sure they understand they made a smart investment.”

Moore wasted no time in agreeing to a long-term extension with the Browns.

“I think it was the best thing for me at this point. I feel very comfortable here,” Moore said. “I like playing for Coach (Pat) Shurmur; I like my teammates; I like this organization. I felt like this was the best time to get something done.”

In 17 career games with the Browns, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Moore has gained 480 yards and scored one touchdown on 28 catches.

“He’s a big target,” quarterback Colt McCoy said after Saturday’s practice. “He is a guy that can do a lot of different things. You can spread him out wide or he can get down with his hand in the dirt and block. I think he, Alex (Smith) and Ben (Watson) have had tremendous camps. They have all worked really hard. They all kind of know their things. To have Evan adds an extra dimension to our offense and I am excited that he is going to be here for a while.”

Coach Shurmur added, “I think he’s displayed himself as a playmaker at the tight end position, so we made the decision that we wanted to try and extend him. We got that done and much like we did with Joe Thomas, we’re glad that he’s going to be here for an extended period of time.”

Moore has never lacked motivation when it came to football.

He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2008, but waived eight days later. Then, Moore spent time the 2008 season on Green Bay’s injured reserve list due to a knee injury.

After being waived by the Packers in September of 2009, Moore was signed to the Browns’ practice squad and later, the active roster.

“From the time I got into this league, all I was told was I wasn’t good enough and I’m not going to play,” Moore said. “I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to it. I just go out and play. When they told me I couldn’t, I didn’t pay attention to it. The thing I’ll never forget is when I left Green Bay, they kind of asked me, ‘What are you going to do now,’ as if football wasn’t in the equation. That pushes me on a daily basis.”

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